It is quite
unfortunate that a majority of Nigerians bemoan the level of development of the
country but given the opportunity, they will be worse. This is because a majority
of Nigerians lack integrity. Integrity is
the practice of being honest and showing consistent and uncompromising
adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values.
In a society where evil and wrongdoers are glorified by men who
pretend to be gentlemen not much progress can be attained by the collective. We
are at a trajectory where men and women have no regard for the legacy they will
leave behind. Nigeria is a country where both leaders and followers lack integrity.
Thus, we have a society without moral
compass.
Interestingly at every turn, the problem
with Nigeria is identified by most analysts and social commentators as the
absence of true or bad leadership. In actuality, this is just one aspect of the
true reality. The reality of the matter is simple, poor followership is
the bane of our social engineering. Throughout history, any society that has
evolved successfully, social reform and change is initiated by the followership
and not necessarily the leadership.
As stakeholders on the receiving end, followers should at all
times be attentive and watchful of the actions and activities of the leadership,
but unfortunately, we in a society where the followers either
have a low or no
expectations from their leaders. Every Nigerian is a major stakeholder and therefore owes it a
duty to salvage Nigeria from the quagmire of poor leadership. The success or
otherwise of leadership will not be in isolation of followership. Regrettably, followers in Nigeria are highly sentimental, self-centered, greedy and subservient. The support given to leaders in Nigeria, always
allowing them to have their way in almost everything is the guilt of the
citizenry.
The important question is: Are the leaders in Nigeria coming
from Mars? Even at the most basic levels, the local government area, do we
demonstrate and any modicum of good followership by demanding good governance?
In the electoral process, do we ensure that the right individuals are elected?
If we are shortchanged through electoral malpractices, do we support the
rightful winners through mass support in their redress process? Do we
participate in the legislative process or do the followers have regard for the
laws, norms customs and traditions? If we say that we belong to a political
party from where leaders emerge we should be able to influence the
leadership. It is only in Nigeria that the followership supports a candidate
for reasons other than the political ideology or performance in office.
In spite of claim to enlightenment, Nigerians easily swallow any
pills administered to them by their leaders even when such pills are bitter. Over
the years, the leaders have perfected their manipulatory skills such that even
civil society groups, professional bodies, and religious organizations have
fallen into the spell of poor leadership, as if they are no more rational
beings. Time and time again, the followership have allowed themselves to be
manipulated, deceived, abused, used and dumped by the leaders who should be
there to protect their collective interest.
Today, transparency and accountability
is no longer fashionable, corrupt people no longer feel bad about their
actions, because everybody else want to do it anyway. Those who choose not to
do it are considered cowards and becoming a laughing stock in the society. The
surge of kidnappings and killings by bandits, coupled with the resurgence of a
Boko Haram affiliated to the Islamic State group are our growing daily, because
of perfidy and duplicity of the entire security architecture of the country.
We have become the poverty capital of the
world with more than 150 million Nigerians languishing in poverty. In
almost six decades of independence, every sector is decaying due to the lack of
political will of our leaders and absence of proactive action by the citizenry.
Our failure to insist that the right things should be done has created the right
ambiance for corruption and misgovernance to thrive. If we really want to see
this country move forward, the citizens must rise up and unite against
misgovernment, corruption and nepotism. We have to be courageous to insist that
the leaders imbibe the culture of prudence, honesty and accountability.
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